Although the Internet came into existence in the second half of the twentieth century, its influence on language began to escalate in 1990 onwards. It has drastically changed the way people communicate and use English both in writing and speaking. Consequently, the world has become increasingly interconnected through synchronous and asynchronous communicational scripts, such as SMS, online chat, Yahoo messengers, emails, blogs, and wikis, which have become retrievable as accessible corpora for analysis. These corpora can yield anecdotal evidence of historical language change. The arrival of Web 2.0 tools and applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, WhatsApp, and Viber, can likewise reveal changes that English has recently undergone. The Internet has given rise to what is arguably a new variety of English that differs from standard varieties. This article provides an account of the development of English from dialects spoken by a small number of people in the British Isles to an international and global language. It emphasizes the language shifts that have taken place more recently since the widespread use of the Internet. The pervasiveness of the Internet has led to new changes in form and usage described as Internet English.

This study employed a mixed‐methods approach to examine peer review through the eyes of writing instructors and first‐year college students, including native and nonnative speakers of English. A total of 162 participants took part in the study, including 142 students and 20 full‐time writing instructors. The quantitative analysis involved multiple chi‐square tests and Fisher’s exact tests with Bonferroni adjustments for Type I error. The researcher examined the qualitative data for common themes and summarized in categories illustrated by participants’ quotes. The results of the study show significant differences between instructors and students in relation to the writing aspects that they focused on when doing peer review. Two important trends were revealed: (1) Both student groups (native and nonnative) focused primarily on language accuracy and range, particularly concerning grammar, spelling, and punctuation; and (2) the instructors were more involved with aspects related to the writing itself, such as thesis statement, organization, coherence, content, and evidence and examples. A significantly higher percentage of instructors reported problems with peer review related to lack of confidence, low appreciation for peer feedback, and reluctance to provide critical comments. The solutions offered by the students and the instructors also varied.

With the current advancement of technology and its potential for better teaching and learning outcomes, this paper compares the use of peer review in face-to-face settings and online platforms. The study recruited 142 students and 20 instructors from an American public mid-southern university. Data were collected over two academic semesters and included three instruments: questionnaires, observations, and interviews. Findings indicated that the participants generally hold a positive stance towards peer evaluation. They found face-to-face peer assessment during writing class time to be the most common and effective mode for they preferred immediate feedback in person. Contrary to laudable prior research findings, the majority of participants considered online review ineffective. They found various forms of technology quite distracting. Analyzing the extent to which native English speakers, non-native speakers, and instructors find virtual and face-to-face types of review worthwhile makes the study a valuable factor for instructors who wish to incorporate peer editing into their teaching.

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